Digital library futuristics: Developing countries, universal access, and information for all (original) (raw)

Digital libraries: Developing countries, universal access, and information for all

2005

Digital libraries are large, organized collections of information ob- jects. Well-designed digital library software has the potential to enable non- specialist people to conceive, assemble, build, and disseminate new information collections. This has great social import because, by democratizing information dissemination, it provides a counterbalance to disturbing commercialization ini- tiatives in the information and entertainment industries. This talk reviews trends

Digital Libraries and Society: New Perspectives on

2005

Digital libraries are large, organized collections of information objects. Well-designed digital library software has the potential to enable non-specialist people to conceive, assemble, build, and disseminate new information collections. This has great social import because, by democratizing information dissemination, it provides a counterbalance to disturbing commercialization initiatives in the information and entertainment industries. This article reviews trends in today's information environment, introduces digital library technology and explores the use of digital libraries for disseminating humanitarian information in developing countries, a context that is both innovative and socially motivated. We demonstrate how currently available technology empowers users to build and publish information collections.

The promise of digital libraries in developing countries

The Electronic Library, 2002

Many current technology trends are not benefiting developing countries-indeed, some bring serious negative consequences. Just as industrialization and globalization have increased the gulf between haves and have-nots, so information and communications technology is creating a chasm between "knows" and "know-nots." By and large developing countries are not participating in the information revolution, although knowledge is critical for development. The knowledge gap between rich and poor is widening [1, 2, 3].

Building and Using Digital Libraries in the Developing World

Education Journal, 2013

Given the several problems faced by developing countries on their struggle to access print-based publications, digital libraries are seen as the great hope as they enable access to a vast panoply of resources, anytime and anywhere. However, building such libraries in developing countries is a real challenge since these countries usually face several difficulties, such as low computer and Internet penetration rates, poor ICT infrastructures, lack of qualified human resources, lack of financial resources, etc. Thus, it is imperative finding alternative mechanisms of building and accessing digital libraries that best fit the specificities of these countries. It is also important to understand how digital libraries are used in these contexts. This paper features the process used for building a digital library in a developing country, characterized by scarce access to print-based publications and serious difficulties in accessing ICT resources. The challenges, the solutions and the adopted methodological framework are highlighted and can be useful for other digital library projects in the developing world. The paper also presents a comparative study on the usage of the created digital library when compared with a traditional library with the same content, and introduces a user study on the possibility of using mobile phones for accessing digital libraries in this context.

Digital Libraries for Developing Countries (White Paper)

Digital Library for the Maghreb Workshop (Fulbright Academy), 2011

This white paper will try to share my experience in developing Desa Informasi (Information Village) -a digital institutional repository -for Petra Christian University. I will also share some developments in Indonesia relating to digital libraries/repositories. Some recommendations will be given when appropriate. It is my hope that the sharedexperience, information, and recommendations will be of valuable contributions to the discussions that will take place in the workshop

Digital Libraries at the United Nations. Building capacities in developing countries

WWW/Internet 2003 Proceedings , 2003

This paper presents the experience gained in developing the FAO's digital library, known as the Corporate Document Repository, which has the objective of preserving the institutional memory of the Organization and disseminating FAO documents and publications on the Internet. This digital library was developed keeping in mind that information has to be easily available to developing countries, and that it should be flexible to ensure customization according to user requirements. To demonstrate the feasibility of this approach, the experiences gained during the development of a pilot experience in Cuba with the objective of establishing a digital library on agriculture at national level are presented. This pilot experience demonstrate that the approach and architecture can be easily replicated and accommodated to different technical environments.

Toward a worldwide digital library

Communications of the ACM, 1998

IGITAL LIBRARIES CAN BE AMONG THE MOST COMPLEX AND advanced forms of information systems because they often involve collaboration support, digital document preservation, distributed database management, hypertext, information filtering, information retrieval, instructional modules, intellectual property rights management, multimedia information services, question answering and reference services, resource discovery, and selective dissemination of information. While physical libraries develop digital components and other business and cultural organizations offer their materials over networks, thousands of digital libraries are emerging around the world, crossing all disciplines and media and ranging from the small, such as community organizations offering online catalogs and news for local constituencies, to the large, such as national libraries offering a wide variety of research and cultural treasures in multiple media.

Establishing the digital library

The literature on Digital Libraries tends to be about developing your own digital library, but most usage of digital libraries worldwide is access to commercial databases of full-text material: initially scholarly materials, but more recently, newspapers and monographs. There is no difference in principle between the industrialized world and developing countries; everyone want to access the same materials. Electronic materials are heaper to deliver to developing countries when compared with printed materials. The main problems concern spending wisely the little money that developing countries have and establishing the infrastructure to get the digital material to the users who need them. The standards needed to implement digital libraries are universal, and librarians in developing countries need to be aware of these standards and support their implementation in their systems, develop an appropriate infrastructure, and put resources into training so that the tools can be used to good effect. The Open Access movement must be taken into account and repositories set up for institutional materials as in the industrialized world.

Toward a Worldwide Digital Library - Introduction

Digital library futuristics: Developing countries, universal access, and information for all (original) (raw)

Related papers